Fragrance notes and families explained: top, heart and base notes
TUREFF• •0
Perfume descriptions are full of terms that can be confusing: top notes, heart notes, chypre, fougère, amber. Once you know what they mean, you can read a description and guess whether you will like something before you even smell it.
The three layers: top, heart and base
A perfume changes as it evaporates from your skin. The lightest molecules disappear first and the heaviest last. Perfumers describe this as a pyramid of notes.
- Top notes (also called head notes) are what you smell in the first few minutes. They are bright, light and quick to fade: citrus such as bergamot, lemon and grapefruit, herbs such as mint or basil, light fruits and some spices.
- Heart notes (also called middle notes) emerge as the top notes fade and form the character of the scent for the next few hours. Florals such as rose, jasmine and lavender, green notes and many spices often sit here.
- Base notes are the heaviest and last longest, sometimes into the next day on fabric. Woods such as sandalwood and cedar, vanilla, resins, musks, amber accords and patchouli are typical.
The pyramid is a simplification. Some modern perfumes are built to smell much the same from start to finish (sometimes called linear), and notes overlap rather than switching off one after another. But it explains why a scent you loved in the first spray can smell quite different an hour later.
Note does not mean ingredient
A listed note is a description of what something smells like, not necessarily a list of what is in the bottle. Many notes are created from a mix of natural and synthetic materials, and some notes, such as sea air or clean laundry, have no single natural source at all. Synthetic materials are a normal and essential part of perfumery, not a sign of a cheap fragrance.
The main fragrance families
Fragrances are sorted into families to make them easier to describe. Different classification systems use slightly different names, but the main groups are similar.
- Floral: centred on flowers, from a single flower such as rose to bouquets of many. The largest family. Sub-groups include fruity floral and powdery floral.
- Fresh: bright and clean. Includes citrus (lemon, bergamot, orange), green (cut grass, leaves, stems) and aquatic or marine scents.
- Woody: built on woods such as sandalwood, cedar and vetiver. Often dry, warm or smoky.
- Amber: warm, sweet and rich, with resins, vanilla, spices and balsams. Traditionally called oriental; many in the industry now prefer amber.
- Gourmand: smells inspired by food, such as vanilla, caramel, chocolate, coffee or praline. Often grouped under amber.
- Chypre: a classic structure of citrus at the top, florals in the heart and mossy, woody base notes. Often described as elegant and slightly bitter.
- Fougère: meaning fern in French, a structure built around lavender, herbs and coumarin, a sweet hay-like note. Common in classic fragrances marketed to men.
- Leather and smoky scents are sometimes a separate family, sometimes part of woody.
Many perfumes cross families, so you will see descriptions such as floral woody or citrus aromatic.
How to use this when choosing
- Look at the perfumes you already love and note their families and key notes.
- You will often find a pattern: perhaps you love woody bases or dislike sweet gourmands.
- Use that pattern to shortlist new things to test.
- When you test, wait for the heart and base notes before deciding. The top notes are only the first impression.
Which family do you find yourself drawn to? Share your favourites or ask about a term you have seen in a description, in the comments.